South Africa News

Commissioner Deliwe de Lange: I’ll continue policing even without pay

Speaking after a meeting with MEC of community safety Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane‚ De Lange said she did not see herself sitting at home doing nothing.

Outgoing Gauteng provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Deliwe de Lange has vowed that‚ despite her early retirement‚ she will continue to serve the people of Gauteng in the fight against crime.

“Policing is a calling for me. Believe me‚ I’m one person who wants to work with my community and wants to work with the people in Gauteng. I will not sit down and rest.

“I’m going to be involved in my community to ensure that we bring the crime down in Gauteng. I don’t need any pay. I want just to be involved to make sure that our women and children‚ our people‚ will walk free in the streets of Gauteng … without any fear.

Deliwe de Lange

“I will involve myself 24 hours. I don’t see myself folding my arms‚ sitting at home‚ doing nothing. This thing is in me. Policing is in me. I am going to do it up until I leave this world‚” said De Lange.

Police said on Friday that De Lange was given three options of deployment but she opted for early retirement. De Lange said when she questioned why she had to leave her post‚ she was told that it was linked to rotation and succession planning. When she interrogated this explanation‚ she received no straight answers.

De Lange has been a cop since 1983. She is leaving her position just two-and-a-half years into her five-year contract.

She explained the challenges she faced when she took over.

“In the past two-and-a-half years‚ one of the challenges I was faced with was that we‚ as law enforcement‚ were working in isolation. I am talking about metro police and the Saps. The way we were working‚ it was like we were working for the glory instead of working for the country.

“Through my leadership‚ and also the intervention by the MEC‚ she managed to bring us together. We started to work together. It was difficult because there was no trust among us. We started building that trust‚ working together and today‚ I’m proud to say we are celebrating the good works that we have done through the leadership of MEC‚” De Lange said.

Nkosi-Malobane on Friday met police in the province to get feedback on the progress in the fight against crime in Gauteng.

Nkosi-Malobane said that although she could not give exact statistics‚ police were making good progress in dealing with crimes such as cash-in-transit heists which have troubled the province.

De Lange said appreciated the support she enjoyed from Nkosi-Malobane and her head of department‚ Yoliswa Makhasi.

“I remember when I started in the job‚ the question I was getting was‚ ‘Do you think you will make it as a woman? Previously there were men who could not make it’. Today‚ I’m leaving the organisation with my head up because of the two women that were supporting me. We made it.

“If you can go back to the statistics‚ I am proud to say that the three of us managed to serve the community of Gauteng‚” she said.

She said that during her tenure‚ police were able to conquer crimes such as rapes which were taking place in minibus taxis‚ violence between Uber and metered taxi drivers and the general minibus taxi violence.

Source: Times Live